Mayor Joe Hogsett, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) and Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) announced the launch of a unified mental health response initiative.
The initiative is designed to better serve the community and the responding personnel during mental health crises.
“This partnership between so many City agencies and departments is emblematic of how we like to do things here in Indianapolis,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “By working together, this new unified mental health response initiative will ensure that we are able to get our neighbors the help they need, when they need it.”
The response is activated when Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams or the Clinician Led Community Response teams are not available. The partnership between first responders and the Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency (MESA) will help coordinate mental health calls across first responders, focusing on safety concerns and individual needs. One agency will then take the lead with appropriate care.
“Providing the best care for our community requires a team effort,” said Chris Bailey, IMPD chief. “By partnering with MESA, IFD and IEMS, we can effectively address challenging calls and determine the most appropriate response. Every situation is unique, and I’m grateful for this collaborative approach.”
Under the Unified Mental Health Response:
MESA
- Dispatches calls for service.
- Engages with the caller to better understand the situation.
- Communicates known info to IMPD, IFD and IEMS including other safety concerns
- Monitors radio traffic for changing conditions.
IEMS and/or IFD
- Assesses medical needs of patient.
- Provides immediate medical needs.
- Determines appropriate hospital destination (excluding arrestees) if required.
- Provides patient extraction to an ambulance as needed.
IMPD
- Determines the need for arrest or Emergency Detention.
- Ensures scene safety and security.
If there is an active threat or weapons on the scene, IMPD will address the incident first while IEMS/IFD stages nearby. If there is no credible threat, the other agencies will take over.
“While IFD, IMPD and IEMS already train together for other types of incidents, the challenges we face involving mental health crises can potentially have dangerous outcomes for responders, family members or the patient themselves,” said Ernest Malone, IFD chief.
Following a call, individuals or family members will be connected with local resources such as the Clinician Led Community Response teams.
All agencies have started the joint training, and the response is expected to launch in late January.
For more information, visit indy.gov.
This reporting is made possible by a grant from the Indianapolis African-American Quality of Life Initiative, empowering our community with essential health insights. https://iaaqli.org/
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Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
